Domestic violence by proxy?

The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence has promoted a new concept to distinguish mother's protective actions from what abusers do.  It is called Domestic Violence by Proxy.  You can download a 2 page memo on it from their web site at http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/pas/DVP.html  The tiny url is http://tinyurl.com/y8j9uxt

The Memo states that some mothers have called what their batterer is doing "parental alienation syndrome [PAS]." PAS has fallen into disfavor among a large segment of the APA and the ABA Family Law Section, largely due to discrediting of the work of Dr. Richard Gardener, who coined the term. Thus, according to the memo, the label can be turned against a custodial parent using it.

In reality, the memo says, what these women are describing from their ex-partners is better termed Domestic Violence by Proxy (DV by Proxy), a term first used by Alina Patterson, author of Health and Healing. DV by Proxy refers to a pattern of behavior which is a parent with a history of using domestic violence or intimidation, uses a child as a substitute when he no longer has access to his former partner. Calling this behavior “parental alienation” is not strong enough to convey the criminal pattern of terroristic behaviors employed by batterers.

Many useful links are found with the memo.

This article was called to my attention by Joan Zorza, JD, the founding editor of the Domestic Violence Report and Sexual Assault Report. Zorza was a 10-year board member of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Liaison, American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence; Former Senior Attorney, National Battered Women's Law Project of the National Center on Women and Family Law. She no longer represents clients. Thank you Joan for the heads up.

Comments

[Jeanne M. Hannah]

Anonymous, you can file a motion to correct clerical errors in the motion. Avoid critical remarks about the lawyer. That won't help you. Simply present the transcripts, (order originals, sealed, for the court's file), recite the errors between the Court's ruling on the record and the Order that was signed. Point out that you were not allowed to properly review the Order prior to entry. Ask the Court to correct the Order.

See Michigan Court Rule MCR 2.612(A), and recite it in your motion.

Rule 2.612 Relief From Judgment or Order
(A)Clerical Mistakes.
(1)Clerical mistakes in judgments, orders, or other parts of the record and errors arising from oversight or omission may be corrected by the court at any time on its own initiative or on motion of a party and after notice, if the court orders it.

Good luck to you. Jeanne

[Anonymous]

Hi, (1) How does a pro per parent in a child custody case defend against an attorney who writes orders after the hearing that does not follow the instructions of the court correctly? I have purchased the transcripts from the case and what the Attorney put in the order is not in the transcript. This has happen on a few occasions per research of additional transcripts. (2) How do I bring this to the attention of the court? One in particular was earlier this year that incorrectly changed the Plaintiff and Defendant around even. I was a pro per then also and was not even given time to review the Order before it was signed by the court. I would have filed objections to the proposed order if so. (3) Should I motion the court to correct the Orders that have misleading tactial agenda type wording that are not factual and not per Court's instructions? Thank you for your time and your very informational blog.